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Thursday 13 September 2012

How do you write from the heart?



This blog is almost a year old and the most popular post has been Why do I write?

Maybe the photo of me and my mother on my first birthday is what made readers click into it. Or maybe the reason is because it's the only post I've written from my heart.

I watch a lot of films; sometimes when I should be doing other stuff (like hoovering or cleaning the bathroom), using the excuse that I'm watching the film for research. I like to listen to the dialogue and to see how characters and plots are constructed. I like to analyse why a film has or hasn't been a hit.

The other day I watched a film called 'The Art of Getting By'. It's on Sky+ Anytime at the moment. I hadn't heard of the film before it was on Sky, maybe because it wasn't promoted much. I found the plot to be weak in places; the pace a little slow and the male lead, who plays George not that convincing. There's almost always something I can take from a film which isn't perfect and I continued to watch it.

In the film, George is in his final few weeks at high school and the headmaster tells him he's unlikely to graduate. He can't motivate himself to work and the reason for this can be found in the backstory of his family life. He meets a girl. Then he meets an artist who visits the school to do a talk. George is good at drawing and doodles in classes instead of listening to the teacher. He and the artist talk.

George says: 'I just don't know what to paint.'

The artist says: 'The fact that you struggle with it is a really good thing, but how can you call yourself a painter if you don't paint?'

This is much like writing.

Towards the end of the film, George turns a corner. The headmaster offers him the chance to complete a year's work in three weeks and he accepts.

His art teacher says: 'I want one, one meaningful work from you. I want you to look in the mirror, listen to your gut, make an image that speaks to the real you, what you care about, what you believe.'

And he does just that. I won't tell you what he paints in case you want to watch the film, but you can probably guess.

Writing is the same. If it doesn't come from the heart, how can it be a writer's best work?

My first novel is written from the heart, but at the moment I'm trying to work how to put that heart into my second novel. Hopefully if I keep writing, I'll get there in the end.

And on those days when I don't feel like writing, I read that post-Why do I write and remind myself what made me start in the first place.

Do you find it easy to write from the heart? I'd be interested to read your comments on anything relating to the above.

16 comments:

  1. I think writing from the heart can be tricky. Sometimes you just have to write and not think about it - it's when you stop thinking about it and just let it happen that the heart gets involved. (I overthink everything though, so what do I know?!)

    On another note, I love all the activities writers can pass off as research: reading, watching films, going out for a walk, people watching....

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    1. Hi Stacey, thanks for your comment. Yes, I agree that overthinking doesn't help. I do love 'research'...!

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  2. Good to be here again after a bit gap.
    Yes, the things comes out genuinely from the heart will get definitely more attention than others. Just for the sake of creating something one can approach many ways but the real attention may not get to such creations
    I am sure it should come from the heart,
    Best wishes for the new novel/. let that too come out from the heart
    Regards
    Phil

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    1. Hi Phil, thanks for visiting my blog again and for your best wishes.

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  3. I've just re-read your post, 'Why Do I Write?' and was so touched by it again.

    I think it is best to write from the heart. I know that's easier said than done sometimes, but I suppose the most important thing is to find something (an emotion, inspirational picture/thought) that sparks off the day's writing and get going.

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    1. Thanks so much Debs. Yes, sometimes getting on with it is the best way. Just saw an updated pic of your shed on your blog-very smart!

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  4. Here is a comment from Melissa at My Unpublished Life. Apologies Melissa-I should never check my iPad whilst making the kids' tea-I somehow pressed 'delete' instead of 'publish' on your comment and can't get it back. So I've cut and pasted it from the email I received from Blogger. Hope that's OK.

    Unpublished Life has left a new comment on your post "How do you write from the heart?":

    Hi Anita,

    I always love your posts on writing because they always make me think. I am tempted to say that my problem is I always write from my heart ... too much so. I am too introspective, too internal, and that is why I can't sustain a novel, because I don't write plots, I don't write about a character moving both physically and emotionally through various experiences. I write about moments in time, instances. Whenever I write it feels like I am shining a spotlight on a specific event or feeling and I turn it inside out. That is how I write ... which I think is bad because it will never get me the published novel ... I think I need to re-think some things ...

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    1. Thanks so much for your lovely comment Melissa. I suppose it is good to strike a balance-plot using head and write using heart? Have you written for Paragraph Planet?-it's only 75 words so there's not much need for plotting-many of the paragraphs on there are about moments in time like you mention.

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    2. I've seen a couple of your contributions and it looks pretty good ... thanks. I might just check it out!

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    3. Great Melissa-look forward to seeing your paragraphs!

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  5. I've always said I write because it's who I am . I'm a writer. I've known it since I was in elementary school. And yes, my writing does come from my heart. I write what I feel, and I don't think about trends. That's why I cry, laugh out loud, and get chills when I write. I feel it all.

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    1. Thanks for your comment Kelly. It sounds as though you know what you're doing! (well of course you do-I've seen your blog...)

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  6. This is a very interesting post, Anita, and very timely for me as I've been thinking about why some of my short stories work much better than others (and are published). I think you've touched on an important point, that we need to write from the heart, whether it's inspired by our own incidents/experiences or from life in general. Yet I'm basically an escapist, so I don't really like getting too near the bone!

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    1. Hi Rosemary, thanks for your lovely comment. I know what you mean re being an escapist-that's why I write upbeat stuff. Should write more serious stuff too, but then I think writing would make me feel miserable!

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  7. I am not a writer so can only image just how hard it can be to find inspiration.

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